Commissioner of Correction v. William B. Coleman

Summary

The court affirmed a permanent injunction authorizing prison officials to use reasonable force to provide artificial hydration and nutrition when medically necessary to prevent the inmate’s death or irreversible harm during his hunger strike. It held that the state’s interests in preserving life, preventing suicide, protecting the inmate’s children, and maintaining prison security outweighed his common-law right to bodily integrity, and that the intervention was reasonably related to legitimate penological interests under the applicable constitutional standard. The court also held that international law did not establish a consensus prohibiting medically necessary force-feeding under the circumstances presented.